Riding Camel & Feeding Giraffes

Finally got around to scanning the souvenir photos from the Miami Zoo in.

The giraffes were so beautiful! Look at those big eyes! Look closely under my hand and you'll one of them sticking his tongue out, reaching for the green leaf I'm holding. They have tongues that can wrap and grab, and that's what happens when you feed them, they reach out with their tongues and when they find the food they'll wrap around it and pull it in. Your hand can get slobbered a bit but it was super fun!

I got to ride Charlie the Camel here. They built a ramp up so you just hop on (without the camel kneeling). While the handler was leading him around this figure 8 track she asked if I had any questions. The conversation went like this.

"So, where are they from?"
"Oh, they're from Wisconsin."

Wisconsin? *blink* *blink*

"They're from Wisconsin?"
"Yup, there's a camel farm there."

... why is there a camel farm in Wisconsin?...

"Uh... so... isn't Wisconsin colder than Florida?"
"Yes, but the desert gets really cold at night so it's well within their natural habitat temperatures."
"Oh, I see..."

so yeah, I was riding a camel named Charlie from Wisconsin in the Miami Zoo.

I almost got to pet a hippo named Johnny! But he wouldn't come when they called out to him. He was half submerged in his pond, and they rang this bell and called his name for like.. a minute. He barely acknowledged us puny humans and stayed submerged. Oh well.

Bird on the Attack

This is a male Argus Pheasant. I was walking in the aviary and he started to circle me. At first there were some Tufted Wood Partridge that was pecking at him so i thought they were playing. Then it started coming at me and started pecking at my feet! I redirected his attention by blocking his shots with my zoo map but was forced to retreat into a building. I asked one of the keepers if it was something i did or if i'm wearing colors too bright, she said no, that little guy is just aggressive and they had to put him in time out for attacking a little girl the other day. Way to start the day!

Watch Out for the Alligator!

I'm holding baby alligator Snappy! The handler to my side said he's "3", but he also said he's been "3 for awhile", so I'm left wondering if this is a pygmy type alligator that actually won't get any larger than this and they just keep calling it a baby and that he's "3". :)